Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Freer, Holmes, Posnett, Steadman, Webster, Wilkinson and Wood.

To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on 12 May 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 May 2022 were confirmed.

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

An other registrable interest in respect of County Councillor Orson was noted as being on record for any matters which relate to the Leicestershire County Council.

In beginning his announcements, the Mayor congratulated Iman Barlow who was born and raised in Melton Mowbray and won the 57kg Muaythai event at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, USA on 17 July 2022.

The Mayor also congratulated the Scalford-based Tug of War team who won men’s silver at the World Games and then won mixed gold alongside a ladies team based in Bedfordshire.

The Mayor informed Members that he attended the following events since the last Council meeting:

• A County Service in Ashby-de-la-Zouch alongside the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE.
• Ground-breaking at Sanders Senior Living at Leicester Road, Melton Mowbray.
• Unveiling of the Circle of Life, in the Memorial Garden at the Country Park.
• Civic Service with the new Bishop of Loughborough.
• Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Leicestershire and Rutland Royal British Legion Centenary celebration at the King Power Stadium, Leicester.
• Polish Heritage Day celebrations at the New Walk Museum, Leicester.
• Mencap’s Jubilee Celebrations.
• Beacon Lighting at the Defence Animal Training Regiment centre.
• His own Platinum Jubilee concert in the park, which raised £2200 for Loros and Dove Cottage.
• St Mary’s Platinum Jubilee Service.
• Oadby and Wigston Lions event which was the Bardi Wind Orchestra at the De Montfort Hall.
• Melton Rotary Club to discuss the Mayoral Role.
• Belvoir Hunt Puppy Show.
• Opening of the Melton and District Advice Centre at the Old Fox, Leicester Road.
• CiCLE Cycle ladies race in Melton
• Armed Forces Fly the Flag event at Parkside.
• Long-service Taxi Awards at Parkside.
• Leicestershire and Rutland Schools Games at Loughborough.
• Opening of start of Melton Theatre.
• Armed Services Parade and open air service at the Clock Tower, Leicester.
• Stapleford Park Railway Challenge.
• Melton in bloom’s day.
• British Model Flying Association event at Buckminster Estate.

The Leader made the following speech:

“As ever it’s been a busy couple of months since our last meeting and we’ve made good progress in some important areas of work.

As we know the Stockyard at the Cattle Market was recently launched and whilst its great to see the recent investment on the site, our longer term plans go much further. We want to create a showcase for food and drink innovation and our extensive and ambitious development plans for the site form the basis of our round 2 Levelling Up Fund. We have done lots of work with Rutland County Council and have built a strong and credible joint bid, and If we secure the nearly £12m we are seeking it will enable us to build both high quality food production space, alongside flexible events space, creating a real feature and destination for the town. We look forward to submitting our bid before the deadline next week.

Also due to be submitted next week is our UK Shared Prosperity Fund plan. Working within a very tight timescale we have consulted widely with all members, stakeholders and our Scrutiny Committee. Through ongoing dialogue and refinement we have developed a fantastic plan which seeks to meet the challenges Melton faces head on. We want to invest in helping people with the cost of living crisis through establishing a new community supermarket. We want to tackle rural isolation, boost investment in tourism, support our town centre, and attract and retain the workforce of tomorrow by supporting apprentices and graduates. I look forward to submitting our widely supported plan and discussing and finalising with government colleagues over the coming weeks.

Whilst we should be extremely proud and confident of the high quality submissions we are making in these funds, we have to recognise that submitting bids is a competitive process and not everything we submit will succeed. We recently heard from government that our bid to secure investment to improve rail connectivity between Nottingham and Melton will not proceed to the next stage. We had done extremely well to get this far and had secured government funding to develop our business case. We made a strong case but ultimately government has taken the view that the investment required cannot be justified at this stage. The work we have done will not go to waste and we will continue to explore opportunities to improve this important transport link with Nottingham.

Securing the right infrastructure to support our growth aspirations is key, as is ensuring enough new homes get built to increase housing availability and affordability within Melton. When we approved our Local Plan, we made a plan for growth and I’m delighted that more homes have been built in Melton in the last 12 months than at any time in the last 30 years. This breaks the record that was set last year and so it’s great to see our strategic commitments delivering.

Whilst talking of housing, tonight we will consider, and I hope  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO16

In accordance with the Constitution, Members of the Council may answer questions from the public of which notice has been given.

No questions were received.

No questions from the public had been received.

In accordance with the Constitution, a Member may ask the Leader, the Chair of the Council or a Committee Chair, a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.

Two questions have been received.

In accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, the following question was received from Councillor Lumley:

“For the benefit of Members and our audience of local residents, can I ask the Leader what action has the Council taken to work with the County Council in order to save the Centrebus no.19 Melton Mowbray - Nottingham Bus Service?

Whilst the service seems no longer commercially viable overall, it does serve as a key and often busy service for Nottingham area Higher Education students, commuters, disabled persons and sporting supporters attending venues in the Nottingham area, for example, Nottingham Forest and Notts County home matches.

Can the response include the following:

a)    What discussions and correspondence have taken place with Leicestershire County Council Councillors and Transport Officers?

b)    Does the Council know if Leicestershire County Council have approached any other Bus Companies to take over this service with a reduced and/or more profitable key demand schedule?

c)    Does the Council know if Leicestershire County Council have contacted Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Councils and other key organisations connected to this service, such as Nottingham Higher Education establishments, for part funding of this service, or even launch their own service for its students?

d)    Over the past few years Leicestershire County Council and many other Councils nationwide have introduced Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) as an alternative public transport idea to replace reduced and cut bus services. Does the Council know if Leicestershire County Council will consider this option for this former bus service?”

The Leader provided the following response:

“Leicestershire County Council is the highways and transport authority for Leicestershire.

The County Council considered the withdrawal of this service and any alternative provision in the context of its Passenger Transport Policy and Strategy (PTPS). The Policy and Strategy was adopted by Cabinet in October 2018. The PTPS outlines the need to consider how residents can make journeys to access essential services such as food shopping and primary healthcare that are generally available at a local centre.

As part of our standard consultation process all affected local members are fully informed of bus service registrations and on the outcome of our impact assessment and intended action, if any. The County Councillors for Melton did raise concerns as part of the consultation process.

On review and assessment of the impact of this service change, it was identified that affected Leicestershire residents would continue to have access to those essential services at the local centre in Melton Mowbray, through existing alternative passenger transport provision.

• Residents on the route of the 19 in Melton Mowbray will continue to have access to the hourly town service 15.
• Residents in Potters Hill and Ab Kettleby will continue to have access to service 25 for journeys to Melton via Stathern.
• Residents in Ab Kettleby will also have access to the existing Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service, providing a return journey to Melton four days a week.
• Residents of Nether Broughton will have access to service 23 for travel to Melton  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO18

In accordance with the Constitution, motions on notice must be signed by at least two Members and be about matters for which the Council has a responsibility or which affect the Melton Borough.

No motions were received.

No motions on notice had been received.

To receive a report on Cabinet recommendations referred to Council in relation to the Treasury Management Annual Report 2021/22.

Councillor de Burle, the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Finance and Resources, introduced the report and moved the recommendations. The Leader seconded the motion.

RESOLVED

Council

1)    Approved the Treasury Management Annual Report 2021/22.

2)    Noted the actual position on the Prudential Indicators for 2021/22.

(Unanimous)

(At 7:14pm, Councillor Child left the meeting and missed the vote on this item. He returned to the meeting at 7:16pm after the vote had concluded.)

To receive a report on Cabinet recommendations referred to Council in relation to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan 2022-2052.

Councillor Browne, Portfolio Holder for Council Homes and Landlord Services introduced the report and moved the recommendations. The Leader seconded the motion.

During the debate it was requested that Ward Councillors be invited on visits within their wards. In response the Portfolio Holder apologised for any omission and confirmed Ward Councillors would be invited in future.

It was noted that energy initiatives such as the installation of solar panel was working very well, as energy had been, and continues to be, a concern for tenants and that it is important for the Council to support tenants.

The good work of Housing Officers was highlighted to Members and the team were thanked for all their hard work.

Following a question about the building of new Council homes, Members were informed that the aim is to build 8 to 10 homes in the next five years.

In response to a query about emergency accommodation, Members were informed that the Council continue to review homelessness provision and that the aim is to reduce the use of B&B accommodation.

The Portfolio Holder and the Housing Officers were congratulated on how they had transformed the housing service from an underperforming one to a much-improved service. The Scrutiny Committee were also congratulated for reviewing and scrutinising the business plan, therefore ensuring that the plan is the best it can be.

One Member highlighted that, in their opinion, there continues to be a tenant to Council communications issue.

RESOLVED

Council:

1)    Approved the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan 2022 – 2052 and associated policy recommendations.

2)    Delegated authority to the Director for Housing and Communities in consultation with the Director for Corporate services and the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Landlord Services to review and update the financial modelling within the HRA Business Plan on an annual basis to reflect the most up to date stock condition data.

3)    Delegated authority to the Director for Housing and Communities in consultation with the Director for Corporate services and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Landlord Services to access the HRA Development and Regeneration Reserve to progress projects and activities in support of the HRA up to a limit of £100k per project and up to a maximum of £500k in any one year subject to the financial viability of the HRA Business plan not being undermined.

4)    Revised the target working balance of the HRA be to £1m with effect from 1 April 2023.

5)    Accepted that the affordability of new borrowing be measured using industry standard indicators, and these be tracked alongside the HRA business plan.

6)    Approved the continuation of the current policy of not providing for the repayment of debt within the HRA in respect of existing and any new borrowing.

7)    Set the rent for re-let properties at the 5% upward tolerance allowed on formula rent.

8)    Designated the Director for Housing and Communities as the nominated person with responsibility for compliance with landlord health and safety on behalf of the Council.

9)  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO21

To receive the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22 from the Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Child, the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, introduced the report and moved the recommendation. Councillor Chandler seconded the motion.

RESOLVED

Council:

Noted the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22.

The Leader of the Council is to present the Councillor Leave of Absence report.

The Leader introduced the report and moved the recommendation. The Deputy Leader seconded the motion.

During the debate, Councillor Carter expressed his support for the report and the recommendation.

RESOLVED

Council:

Granted a dispensation to allow Councillor Mel Steadman to remain a Member of the Authority up to and including 8 May 2023 should she not be able to attend a meeting as a Member before 3 September 2022 due to continued ill health.

(Unanimous)

(At 7:42pm, upon the conclusion of this item, Councillors Cumbers, Glancy and Higgins left the meeting and did not return.)

The Monitoring Officer is to present the review of political balance and allocation of seats to political groups.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report. The Leader moved the recommendations and the Deputy Leader seconded them.

RESOLVED

Council:

1)    Approved the political balance calculation set out at paragraph 5.1 of the report.

2)    Approved the allocation of committee seats to political groups as set out in paragraph 5.3 of the report and noted the membership of each committee as set out in Appendix A.

(17 in Favour, 1 Abstention)